econlife - Hollywood’s Unusually Large Gender Pay Gap by Elaine Schwartz

When the stars of All the Money in the World were summoned to do some reshoots, their response could not have been more different.

Maybe that contributed to the problem. But not really. There is so much more.

First the story…

 

The Reshoot Pay Gap

At $80 per diem, Michelle Williams was paid less than $1,000 for doing the All the Money in the World reshoots. Mark Wahlberg got the same per diem plus $1.5 million. The math? The woman received less than one-tenth of one percent of what her male co-lead got.

Because of a Christmas release date, filmmakers wanted to act quickly after Kevin Spacey–accused of unwanted sexual advances– left the film. Ms. Williams reputedly rushed to the shoot. Sounding rather gracious, she told USA Today, “I said I’d be wherever they needed me, whenever they needed me. And they could have my salary, they could have my holiday, whatever they wanted. Because I appreciated so much that they were making this massive effort.”

Mark Wahlberg though is reputedly a tough negotiator.

 

Hollywood’s Gender Gap

For some insight about Hollywood’s gender pay gap, let’s return to an updated version of an econlife post from last year. Doesn’t Jennifer Lawrence sound remarkably similar to Michelle Williams?

The Actor/Actress Pay Gap

Lawrence also had been paid less than her male co-stars–although not nearly as much. Ms. Lawrence said that during salary negotiations, “I didn’t want to seem difficult or spoiled.” Later though, she “saw the payroll on the internet and realized every man I was working with definitely didn’t worry about being difficult or spoiled.”

Forbes confirms that Hollywood’s top women earn less than their male counterparts:








The Williams and Lawrence pay gap, though, is part of a much larger story.

 

In Front of the Camera

The first place to find the gap is in front of the camera. Led by Dr. Stacy Smith, a group at the USC Annenberg School periodically checks the percent of female speaking characters. For four media platforms, they concluded that the average ratio was 2 men to each woman. With film at 2.5 to one, it was worse.

These are the numbers from “Inclusion or Invisibility? Comprehensive Annenberg Report on Diversity in Entertainment” (All of the following graphics unless otherwise indicated are from this paper.):

Behind the Camera

One reason for fewer women in front of the camera is the men who are behind-the-scenes. Among the media’s directors, women are far outnumbered:



However, when women make the movies, those “invisible” females appear:

Our Bottom Line: Expectations Bias

As behavioral economists, we could say that we have an expectations bias. When industry leaders imagine a director or a blockbuster film, they think of men.

Dr. Smith suggests we can start to erase that bias by gradually adding women to scripts:

I suspect that when more media industry women populate a behind-the-scenes pipeline, so too will their salaries.

My sources and more: Seeing that Michelle Williams was paid so much less than Mark Wahlberg reminded me that Annenberg’s Stacy Smith would have an updated study. It was time again to take a look. Although there are no surprises, it is interesting to see the newest Forbes list.

Meanwhile, last year I recommended this gender gap podcast from More or Less and this TED talk from Stacy Smith. Finally, to complete the picture, you might enjoy this fivethirtyeight article.

Ideal for the classroom, econlife.com reflects Elaine Schwartz's work as a teacher and a writer. As a teacher at the Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, she’s been an Endowed Chair in Economics and chaired the history department. She’s developed curricula, was a featured teacher in the Annenberg/CPB video project “The Economics Classroom,” and has written several books including Econ 101 ½ (Avon Books/Harper Collins). You can get econlife on a daily basis! Head to econlife.

econlife - What Not To Tell During a Job Interview by Elaine Schwartz

Assume that a new employee in a similar position will be earning more than you. Your attempt to get a raise does not work so you look for a new job. In most states, you could have a problem.

Only California, Delaware, and NYC have implemented a salary question ban that covers all public and private employees:

 

Why?

During a job interview, it is tough to dodge the salary question. If someone asks what you earned in a previous job, you could answer with a targeted salary range. But the dialogue could get uncomfortable, especially with unfair pay.

And that takes us to women and the gender pay gap. The media tell us that women earn 79 cents for every dollar that men are paid. Although the real gap is much more complicated, for today, let’s stick with that number.

At a new job, you could narrow the gap by starting on a higher rung of the wage ladder. However, your previous salary could diminish a pay offer. To eliminate the influence of your wage history, laws are multiplying that prohibit the salary question during job interviews.

You can see below where laws banning the salary question have been passed and proposed. Since the graphic was created, Delaware and Oregon passed legislation. The Delaware law kicked in last month while Oregon’s will not be in effect until January, 2019.

 

Our Bottom Line: The Anchoring Effect

In Thinking Fast and Slow, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman discusses a supermarket sign that limited soup purchases to 12 cans. When the sign was up, shoppers bought more soup than when there was no cap. Similarly, when asked how long Mahatma Gandhi lived, the question made a difference. Respondents offered a higher answer when they were asked, “Was Gandhi 144 years old when he died?”

The anchoring effect links soup purchases and Gandhi’s life span. As a number that influences our subsequent behavior, the anchoring effect can justify the salary history ban. When told a lower number, a prospective employer might offer less.

My sources and more: Thanks to NPR for alerting me to the dreaded interview question. BusinessInsider was also a handy source through their states overview. But for some insight, do look at the XXfactor at Slate.

Ideal for the classroom, econlife.com reflects Elaine Schwartz's work as a teacher and a writer. As a teacher at the Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, she’s been an Endowed Chair in Economics and chaired the history department. She’s developed curricula, was a featured teacher in the Annenberg/CPB video project “The Economics Classroom,” and has written several books including Econ 101 ½ (Avon Books/Harper Collins). You can get econlife on a daily basis! Head to econlife.